author – freelance writer – poet

How High Will You Climb? (review)

If you need an attitude makeover, How High Will You Climb? is your go-to guide. Using the metaphor of attitude in the world of flight, author John C. Maxwell helps us analyze our life’s attitude (“… an inward feeling expressed by behaviour” – Kindle Location 81) from every possible angle: what an attitude is, how it’s formed, what things cause it to nose-dive, and how to change it.

The book has many practical examples. But it is more than a self-help guide, for its points are solidly buttressed by scripture. The body of the book contains lots of interactive features like self-tests and practical application suggestions. In addition, the back of the book has a Study Guide with a set of questions, discussion starters, and journal prompts for each chapter.

I found the book challenging and helpful. I especially appreciated the chapter on how to recognize and overcome discouragement. It is certainly a book I will keep close at hand, for as Maxwell points out, attitude is something we grapple with as long as we live:

“Our attitudes are formed by our experiences and how we choose to react to them. Therefore as long as we live, we are forming, changing or reinforcing attitudes. … our attitude doesn’t remain stagnant” – KL 546 & 571.

(How High Will You Climb? was first published as Your Attitude in 1984 by Here’s Life Publishers.)

I received How High Will You Climb? as a gift from the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for the purpose of writing a review.